Halfway through this film, I finally figured out I was watching something from the “Coming of Age” genre … how did I know? The film ran out of characters. “Oh, we’re left with the kid, are we? OK, ‘Coming of Age’ it is.” Writer/director Paolo Sorrentino had a lot to say in The Hand of God, even having a conversation with himself at one point – why else do you put a random film director in your movie? Did all of this make the film better? Not really. But I eventually understood where Mr. Sorrentino wanted to go with it.
The Hand of God introduces us to a medium size Napoli family, the Schisas. The family is into soccer, film, and pranking, but not necessarily in that order. I’m not sure I like pranks in fiction any more than I like them in real life. Calling a D-list acting neighbor to say she’ s been selected to play the lead in the new Federico Fellini seems cruel to me. The film is set in the 1980s, so Fellini is still a thing, as is the family’s obsession that Argentinean soccer star Diego Maradona might come play for the local Napoli team. Wouldn’t that be a coup?
I should have realized this was a comin-of-age film when -early on- Sorrentino indulged the screen with a nude to be voyeured, but it seemed just another loose thread in a first act that showed us a bunch of people and said next-to-nothing about them. The teen of our concern is Fabietto (Filippo Scotti). He emerges like the winner on “Survivor” after several other characters have disappeared for various reasons. Fabietto is actually saved by his undue allegiance to Maradona and Napoli soccer, hence the title of the film which refers to a goal Maradona scored illegally in a 1986 World Cup against England. I dunno how the “Hand of God” description stuck; I would have called it “the Cheating Goal,” but then it wouldn’t have translated as a movie metaphor quite as well.
When the rest of the cast disappears, we are left with Fabietto, a semi-likeable kid with an iffy present and an iffy future. We like him mostly because of circumstance, not because of personality. I felt a little put off the film left me with no other protagonist. Umm, ok, I guess we’re with the kid, then. I suppose that’s what coming-of-age films do, but usually I like the kid a lot more … or I really feel for his dilemma. Here, I feel cheated as if the film selected my hero for me without giving me a choice among the original cast.
Let me go back to the moment where the writer/director essentially “interviews himself.” This is a bit of a spoiler because it comes so late, but the film itself is such a Fast Times collection of unconnected moments that I don’t really feel like I’ve given away much. By Act III, Fabietto finally understands his purpose in life: to make films. Given what I know about Fabietto, this is still about five iterations away from his true purpose in life, but I’ll let the film speak for itself on this point. Tracking a
famous film director at a speaking engagement, Fabietto follows the dude home and bends his ear about film.
This is the director talking to himself. And what is the director’s message to “Fabietto?” “Have something to say.” Simple enough … and a good rule of thumb; Lord knows I’ve seen hundreds of movies that had nothing to say and the ones that have something to say are, by-and-large, better. That said, why include this in your film, Paolo Sorrentino? I can think of two reasons: 1) His film has nothing to say and he’s accusing himself in film form of not having a point while hoping the audience will forgive him or 2) He does have a point, but it’s weak and unclear, so he has to draw special attention to it. The latter is clever, and likely the reason, however as a viewer I need to point out that finding a message in The Hand of God was very difficult, which means that the scene is necessary … and makes me think less of the picture because of it. I think Sorrentino is still cashing in on his success from The Great Beauty and figured as long as he had enough ideas to make a new film, gosh darnit, he was gonna make it. Meh.
Fabietto was confused of his role
What exactly would become of his soul?
To smoke marijuana
Or watch Maradona
When discovered, he might achieve one big GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!
Rated R, 130 Minutes
Director: Paolo Sorrentino
Writer: Paolo Sorrentino
Genre: Mystery. Not that the film is a mystery; the genre is a mystery (for a while, at least)
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: People who think they’re watching a great film
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: People who wonder what the movie was supposed to be
